Oct. 11, 2004
Final Stats
Final Results
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HARRISONBURG, Va.--Freshman Patrick Murphy (Chicago, Ill.) capped off the 54-hole James Madison Invitational with a final round score of 72 and finished in a tie for 33rd place in the field of 83 golfers on Sunday at the par-71 Lakeview Golf Course. Murphy has now been the team's low scorer at each of the two tournaments he has played in his collegiate career. He finished the weekend with a 5-over-par score of 218 after posting rounds of 69-77-72.
Villanova put together a team round of 298 on Sunday for a three-day total of 890. The Wildcats shot rounds of 293 and 299 in Saturday's opening rounds. Villanova was in 15th place for the tournament, 13 strokes behind St. John's.
Senior captain Charlie Nettleton (Lisle, Ill.) came in with a round of 75 on Sunday after having the kickout score in each of Saturday's rounds. He finished the weekend with scores of 80-81-75=236. Junior Jonathan Hewett (Sioux Falls, S.D.) also finished the tournament on a strong note, carding a 73 on Sunday. He was just three strokes over par in the final two rounds, and finished the weekend with outputs of 77-72-73=222. Sophomore Brock Bergman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) wound up at 226 with scores of 75-73-78 and freshman Michael Kouch (Huntington Valley, Pa.) was right behind with a 227 behind rounds of 72-77-78.
Kouch, a local product playing in his first tournament at the collegiate level, entered the final 18 holes with a total of eight birdies, tops on the team. Villanova ranked fourth among the 15 teams in the field with 32 birdies over the first two rounds.
The top two teams switched positions on the final day of action, as Towson fired an 8-under-par 276 on Sunday to claim the team title by five strokes over Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights entered the day with a seven-stroke advantage, and shot a 288 in the final round. Towson's Jeff Castle tied the course record with an 8-under-par 63 and took medalist honors with a three-day score of 13-under-200 (70-67-63).
Next up for Villanova is the annual Big 5 Classic, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday. The 36-hole tournament will once again be held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The course is par-71 and will measure 6,843 yards.
NOTES: Through eight rounds after its first three tournaments of the season, Villanova has improved its average team score by nearly 14 strokes since last year ... The Wildcats' team average of 297.63 would rank among the best in school history over the course of a full season ... Patrick Murphy's score of 5-over-par for the weekend was the lowest 54-hole score by a Villanova player in the last three seasons.
